Kean's response to Sweeney's release on minimum wage

Kean to Sweeney: Other States Allow Voters to Decide on Same Sex Marriage, Pump Their Own Gas; Should NJ?

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. stated the following in response to the Senate President’s release on the state’s minimum wage:

“It is ironic that the Senate President today criticized a delay to increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $8.50 per hour, when Senate Democrats last month tabled a compromise by Senator Joe Pennacchio to responsibly increase the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour.

“If Senator Sweeney’s argument is ‘other states are doing it,’ then shouldn’t he and his party apply it to other New Jersey issues? For example, since other states allow voters to decide on same sex marriage, shouldn’t New Jersey? Is the Senate President saying that we should pump our own gas, because it is permitted by 48 other states?

“The Senate President and I are frustrated over the minimum wage. I am disappointed that the majority party has delayed a responsible plan to increase the minimum wage via statute starting Jan. 1, without unpredictable automatic increases that make it harder for people to obtain and retain jobs.”